This Weeks Garaging Finds

It's so great to be back on a normal schedule- I couldn't wait to go garaging this weekend. Here's what I found...

This "Family Is Everything" magnetic board was $1.00, the lantern $1.00, the new Bunco game .50 and the new Robeez baby shoes $3.00.I also picked up this great Lifetime 6' picnic table for $40.00. It actually folds flat, which makes it easy to move and store. I priced these at Home Depot and they sell new for over $200.00. We will use this a ton on our back porch.

Isn't this a beautiful cabinet? One problem... It has no legs. The previous owner had this sitting on cement blocks in her front room. They were having an estate sale and I felt his huge desire to rescue this piece. "How much for the cabinet," I asked. "three dollars, " she responded and then Mr. Right loaded it up. Can't wait to do the transformation on this one! Also, I tried something a little different this weekend. Mr. Right and I went to a storage unit auction. Storage units like these...

I forgot my camera, so these are pictures from the internet- but they are very acurate. Here's the deal. People sometimes don't pay their monthly storage fee and after a certain period of time the entire contents of the unit are auctioned as one lot. The auctioner opens the rolling door, potential bidders have a few minutes to glance inside (there is a very strict rule about not crossing the threshold of the unit and not touching or kicking anything). You really take your chances when bidding on a unit that may look something like this...

You might be able to see one or two potential items, but mostly it's boxes, papers and a filthy mattress or two. The rules state that each unit you win must be emptied and cleaned (broom swept) within 48 hours. You actually pay a $25-$50 cleaning deposit on each unit- which is refunded when they have examined your empty, clean space. I was excited to participate in this adventure. When we arrived, registered and received a bidder number- Mr. Right and I began socializing with our potential competitors. It was quite a Motley Crew- Pawn shop owners, antique dealers, etc. One friendly women shared some stories with us explaining that a while back she had purchased a unit and found several boxes of drug paraphernalia that had to be disposed of. She said she had a big garage sale to make money on her purchase. Ironically, the woman who owned the storage unit happened to come to the sale. Evidently her boyfriend, who rented the unit, had gone to jail and she didn't know where he had stored her things. She became this women's best customer by buying back all of her childhood dolls and memories. After hearing this story I was a little discouraged, as I didn't want to be potentially rifling through nastly and illegal items. However, we decided to wait and see what the units looked liked. After an hour and a half in the scalding heat, Mr. Right and I called it quits. Some units had sold for as little as $45- while others got to over $600- But I just couldn't shake the idea of the fact that we were buying ourselves so much work. These units were packed to the roof. Everything was covered in filth and it occured to me that most "normal" people wouldn't let their personal items be confiscated, if they had any value. Mr. Right commented that people obviously make a living buying and reselling what's in these units- I discovered- I do have limits! I love trash, but it's gotta come one piece at a time, after careful consideration as to what I will do with it. I hope there were some successful bidders, but as for me and my trash... I'll stick to the old fashioned garage sale. Love, Kelly.